Chapter 4

Jethro Gibbs stood on the porch of the rented cabin with his coffee, looking out towards the lake, staring out into oblivion. There were only three women he'd ever went fishing with that he'd enjoyed the trip: one had been Shannon, when they used to take Kelly, one had been Jenny, not so much for the fishing as the escape from civilization, and the third was his sister. This trip was no exception. Hollis hadn't been squeamish about any of it, but he knew the true purpose of the trip, to talk about their relationship. The truth was that Hollis was getting more and more involved as opposed to him looking more and more for an escape hatch. He wasn't happy, hadn't been for awhile, but she'd started becoming upset if he spent time with another woman, on or off the clock, whether it be Shelby, Abby, Ziva, or Jen, especially Jen. The case with Stephanie had been the breaking point and he wished Ducky hadn't said anything at all to Hollis about Shannon and Kelly. She'd started talking about settling down, about children, and on a timeline. The truth was, there was only one woman he'd ever been able to imagine that type of life with, besides Shannon, and since he'd come on this trip, he'd gotten a gut feeling that something was wrong with Jenny, that he needed to go home.

His cell phone vibrated and he answered quickly, knowing Hollis would be angry if she knew he had it with him, much less on, but he'd wanted to be reachable. "Gibbs."

"Okay, it's time to stop playing house and come home," Shelby said, forgoing a greeting, a tone to her voice that he recognized well.

"Why's that?" He knew she didn't like Hollis and, at first, he'd thought that it was because she still thought there was a shot in hell at him getting back together with Jen.

"The bastard broke into her house. Tony and I are on our way over there now. Matt's with her, but you have to come home. Now."

"Wait. Back up." She had his full attention now, so much so that he didn't see Hollis watching him. "Broke into whose house?"

"Jenny's. Who do you think? This is gonna kill her. You know how bad it was the last time. Cynthia said she was shaking she was so upset." Shelby's words were sincere, worried for her best friend, the woman she considered her sister.

" Shelby, you're not making any sense." He rubbed his head, getting the beginnings of a headache. "What are you talking about? What's wrong with Jenny?"

"She didn't tell you." Shelby closed her eyes, opening them again, wishing Tony would drive just a little faster although he was already speeding. "Davidson."

Gibbs' blood ran cold, his mind going back to finding Jenny on the bed, beaten to a pulp, broken and bloody. When she'd started crying, his heart had broken; it had been all he could do to keep a brave face up for her through the whole hellish ordeal. "What about him?"

Shelby's voice was quiet, almost to the point where he couldn't hear her and he had excellent hearing. "He was released."

Gibbs came close to being sick as he heard the news. He'd known it would happen one day and once again wished that he'd made that shot that day, just one shot, saved the government the expense of the trial, gotten justice for Jenny and the other victims instead of the farce that had actually happened. "I'm on my way home now," he said, not noticing that Hollis was now outside, not caring what she thought, knowing with everything inside him that he needed to get to Jenny, whatever else happened.

"Okay." Just hearing that made Shelby feel a little better. She knew she could hold down the fort until her brother got there, but the only thing that could actually fix anything would be for him to be back home. "Jethro…"

"Stay with her until I can get there." He knew he didn't have to tell her that and that she'd probably stay after he arrived as well. Jenny needed all the family she could get. "And make sure Matt or Tony are there at all times, okay?" A nightmarish scenario with Davidson getting to both the girls crossed his mind, making his resolve to return to D.C. even stronger. "Be careful, Shelby. And take care of her for me."

"I will." They hung up at the same time, Gibbs turning to face Hollis as Shelby looked over at Tony.

"You gonna tell me what's going on?" Tony asked, not sure if he was intruding or not, but Jenny's behavior the day before had concerned him, Shelby's phone call to her brother had him more than a little worried as well.

"It goes no further…"

"Than me," Tony finished for her, knowing Shelby trusted him with her secrets, but knowing she was uncomfortable about revealing any of her brother's or Jenny's, even under the circumstances.

"About ten years ago, Jenny and Jethro were investigating a string of female Marines that were…attacked."

Tony nodded, listening. "And they used her as bait."

"The op was supposed to be over. They didn't think Davidson had picked up on the bait and they were going to try another way." Shelby paused. "Turned out he was just waiting for the surveillance to go off of her."

Tony brought the car to a sudden stop at a red light, putting his hand up to help the seatbelt stop her, both falling back against the seat. "Jenny was…hurt?" The anger about the Le Grenuoille mission fell by the wayside, leaving just the concerned friend.

Shelby nodded. "He was released about a week ago. He's already been stalking her; evidently he broke into her home today."

Tony swore under his breath as he started driving again. "What about the other victims? Do they know he's out?"

Shelby looked out her window, her voice getting quiet again. "Jenny was the only survivor." Davidson hadn't been charged with murder, because there was nothing connecting him to the deaths, but every woman who'd been raped had ended up killing themselves, either by their own hand or by having death wishes. Every one of them…except Jenny.